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Entertainimation
Entertainimation was a production company that produced animated programming for television from 1971 to 1993. Located in Southeastern Pennsylvania, the animation studio was founded in 1971 by Howie Anderson and Ernest Lublin. It is best known for producing Dino-Copter and its many spinoffs. History Howie Anderson and Ernest Lublin first met in 1968 while working together at a hardware store called Hechingers. The two became fast friends as they learned that they shared a dream of opening a hot dog stand. In 1969, they achieved their dream when they opened the mildly popular Anderson’s and Lublin’s Dogeria in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. They both had a lot of disposable income because their rich parents were dead. The Dogeria’s only regular customer was Jonathan Gordon, whom Anderson and Lublin soon learned was the founder of the Church of Higher Faith Friendship Society of America. Gordon saw potential in the two hot dog men and asked them to produce some animated films for his organization. Anderson and Lublin agreed although they had no experience, and over the course of the next year the two produced 78 animated shorts about the life of Lucifer. Eventually, the two cut ties with Jonathan Gordon when it became clear to them that the Church of Higher Faith Friendship Society of America could not be anything but a cult of Satanists. So they closed down the Dogeria and opened the Entertainimation studios to further explore their new interest. They used some more of their parents’ money. Lublin explains that the studio name "...is a little play on words. We were producing 'animation' that was supposed to be 'entertaining.' Put those together and you get 'Entertainimation.' Get it?" In 1972, Entertainimation produced its first two animated series for television, which aired on CBS, and they were called Underwater Submarine Journey and Extreme Gorilla Fight Adventures. Underwater Submarine Journey was not very well-recieved, so production was stopped after three episodes. Extreme Gorilla Fight Adventures ''lasted seven episodes before producer Howie Anderson began receiving anonymous letters in the mail asking him to "...please halt production on ''Extreme Gorilla Fight Adventures or I'll kill you," at which point production of that series was stopped as well. The source of the letters has never been solved. After taking some time to regroup, Entertainimation began producing and airing The Tooney Bunch Power Hour, a variety show consisting of three distinct cartoon series, including The Tooney Bunch (the flagship series starring the "Tooney Bunch"), Captain Smackman (about a superhero who smacks his enemies), and Dino-Copter. It soon became clear that audiences were only really interested in the Dino-Copter ''storylines and by episode 6 of ''The Tooney Bunch Power Hour, The Tooney Bunch and Captain Smackman segments were phased out completely. Byepisode 13, the series had been renamed Dino-Copter. By 1974, Dino-Copter was a bona fide hit, and Anderson and Lublin decided to put the rest of their dead parents' money toward this series. Production of Dino-Copter continued until 1981, when the series ended in order to expand the universe in a number of spin-offs, including Dino-Copter Squad, Dino-Copter Turbo Squad, Dino-Copter Future Force, Extreme Dino-Copter, Dino-Copter Future Force: Past Presents, and Dino-Copter Force Extreme. The final Dino-Copter series and the last series to be produced by Entertainimation was Dino-Copter: Copter Force which aired from 1991-1993. Entertainimation closed in September 1993, and little has been heard from it or its former workstaff since. Controversy Cockfighting Almost since day one of Entertainimation, there have been rumors that the studio served as a front for illegal cockfights which were allegedly held in the basement of the studio. Although there has never been a confirmed instance of cockfighting in Entertainimation studios, the rumors became so persistent that they led to multiple lawsuits and the dissolution of founder Howie Anderson's first marriage. Anderson has said of the cockfighting accusations: "I have spent very little time around chickens. I wouldn't know where to find one. I don't know how you get one. I don't know how you get them to fight each other. I've seen chickens next to each other before and they weren't fighting. Please stop saying that we have cock fights. Please." There has never been any evidence of cockfighting in Entertainimation studios. Melting VHS Tapes In the early 90's as the home VCR was gaining popularity, Entertainimation sought to release some episodes of its many Dino-Copter' '''series on home video. Although the ''Dino-Copter VHS tapes were intially met with much enthusiasm and sold very well, there soon came many reports indicating that immediately after placing the tapes into a VCR, they would melt and fuse with the inner-workings of the device, releasing a large amount of smoke and a particularly pungent odor, and permanently damaging both the tape and the VCR. It soon became clear that every single Dino-Copter VHS was so cheaply made that the same fate would befall each one. Many Dino-Copter fans demanded compensation and there was a great deal of backlash. There have been rumors that this debacle is what led to the closing of Entertainimation. Staff Ernest Lublin - Co-Founder, Co-Owner Howie Anderson - Co-Founder, Co-Owner Kim Goddard/Joy DeVivre - Character Designer (freelancer) Royce Anderson - Head Writer Carol Lublin - Senior Staff Writer Nancy Jennings - Staff Writer Manny Brownstein - Staff Writer Derek Peabody - Junior Staff Writer